Tribal Law on Domestic Violence Takes Effect

[niyad]

Tribal Law on Domestic Violence Takes Effect



The law passed under the latest reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is designed to expand the jurisdiction of tribal courts and quell a major cause of injury and death among Native girls and women.


Two Native American women lead the Stop Violence Against Women walk in Arizona.Credit: Donovan Shortey on Flickr, under Creative Commons



WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)-- Native American justice systems can now prosecute non-Native offenders who commit domestic violence, opening the prospect of more domestic violence prosecutions on Indian reservations in the United States. The new law took effect March 7 and plugged a longstanding loophole in federal law that had allowed non-Native abusers to evade prosecution, in some cases, for decades.

It took Congress more than 30 years to institute the change, which supplants a 1978 Supreme Court ruling that said tribes, many of them with sophisticated legal systems, had no right to prosecute non-Native American offenders in domestic violence cases when one partner was a Native American. Under the law, tribes can now investigate, prosecute, convict and sentence Indians and non-Indians who assault Indian spouses or dating partners, or violate a protection order in Indian country.

Some critics say it doesn't go far enough to ensure the safety of Native Americans assaulted by non-Natives because it doesn't include child abuse or sexual assault by non-Native Americans against Indian victims. On the other side of the issue, threat of a lawsuit by groups opposed to tribes having legal authority also looms.

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http://womensenews.org/story/domestic-violence/150512/tribal-law-domestic-violence-takes-effect